


At the End of the Day

by SpaceKase



Category: Camp Camp
Genre: Canon Character of Color, David cares too much, Gen, Gwen ALSO cares though she doesn't want you to know it, Mentions of Child Murder, Mentions of child neglect, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 16:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13791345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceKase/pseuds/SpaceKase
Summary: It's not like they're parents; they're glorified babysitters for three months of the year. It's a job, and one that doesn't pay very well, at that. The kids have their own families; people who handle their problems for the other nine months of the year. There's only so much they can do.So why do they feel like such failures?





	At the End of the Day

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place just after Parents' Day. Like the tag mentions, if you squint, you can prooooobably make out some Gwenvid, but that isn't really the focus here.

Gwen heaved a deep sigh as she closed the counselor cabin’s door behind her. She took a deep breath and counted to ten before she let herself sink to the floor, where she proceeded to curl up in a ball. She was almost certain she deserved credit for this; letting herself fall to pieces _after_ dealing with the kids and those two agents, and not letting any of them see her do it.

It was the little things that counted, she’d found. It helped to count the small victories.

Gwen stayed like that for a few minutes before realizing that something felt wrong. She cautiously lifted her head, and was greeted with the sight of David sitting at the foot of his bed, staring in a hard, serious, remarkably un-David-like way at the bulletin board she’d brought this year. At the time, she’d thought it would be useful. Max had piped up and joked “Where _else_ are you gonna keep the pieces of paper you’re never gonna look at again?”

After tonight, she didn’t know if she’d be able to look at Max and his jokes the same way, again.

“David?” she tentatively asked. Ordinarily, he’d have asked her if she was all right. She’d known him for about three years, now; he’d never quite figured out how to handle her and her anxiety, but he tried. Oddly enough, him just _being_ there had come to help.

Just a little.

David just made a thoughtful noise at the back of his throat. His gaze didn’t shift from the bulletin board.

Gwen’s panic attack had been successfully staved off for a while longer, so she got to her feet and sat next to David, following his gaze.

She winced when she did. He was staring at a pair of photographs and articles he’d clipped out of a newspaper he’d found a few weeks ago. “Any reason why you’re staring at Daniel and Jen?” she asked, in a tone she usually reserved for talking to the Quartermaster.

“They tried to tell me.” David’s voice was softer than Gwen had ever heard it. “ _He_ tried to tell me. But I didn’t listen.” He finally tore his eyes away from the picture of the man who could have been his twin brother to look her in the eyes. “I let a _child murderer_ near the kids, Gwen. I _hired_ him; I was planning on _paying_ him.”

Gwen winced. “I mean…you’re not the only one. I kinda fell for Jen when I met her.” She wasn’t completely joking; she’d remembered just how bisexual she was when she’d laid eyes on the other woman and her impeccable pastel ensemble.

Evidently that was something she and David had in common; despite all their differences, they’d both been desperate for someone with enough similarities to bond over. Even if said someone was a murderous cultist.

Daid shook his head. “I… _we_ haven’t listened to the kids.” David sighed. “Max told me, from the start, that his parents didn’t care. I thought he was exaggerating…” He laughed a small, humorless laugh. “It’s what _I_ did when I was a kid; make mountains out of molehills, you know?”

Gwen bit her lip, and looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. That struck her… _she’d_ thought that that had been the case, too. She complained about her parents, but though they weren’t perfect, she knew how much worse it could be.

David was still talking. “I didn’t even know he hadn’t been signed up for an activity until tonight.”

“I didn’t, either,” said Gwen. “ _I’m_ the one who schedules all the camps…” She hadn’t noticed that not a single one had Max’s name attached. “I…guess he just slipped through the cracks,” she said softly.

“He’s not the only one. We lost a camper because I fell for a twelve-year-old baiting me, we didn’t realize what Harrison is _really_ here for, we basically let Nurf domestically abuse Preston for a day, we didn’t realize that Space Kid got _poisoned_ …For goodness sake, we didn’t supervise three campers for an hour, and they came back flying a _plane._ ”

Gwen remembered that day. That had happened on her and David’s watch. They’d lost three kids in Mexico, for a time.

“We’re doing our best, David.” The words didn’t sound convincing, even before she said them. _David_ was the one doing his best…Gwen _hated_ this job, and she’d never bothered to make a secret of it. Everyone here knew she’d rather be anywhere else.

 “Is it really good enough, though?”

Everything about those words coming from David’s mouth was _wrong_. Something fundamental in Gwen’s world view shifted…she suspected she would have fallen as she felt the ground fall out from under her, if she weren’t sitting down. “We don’t have the funds to do anything else right now. There’s a lot of kids here, and only the two of us.” And the Quartermaster, but really; she liked to avoid thinking about the Quartermaster whenever she could.

“Yes, well…” The smile on David’s face wasn’t a David smile. It was one that didn’t meet his eyes. “Look what happened when we tried to hire more counselors.”

And just like that, the conversation had wrapped back around. They were at the same place they’d started. Gwen didn’t see a way out of this…she didn’t know what to say to make David feel better. She didn’t know what to say to make everything okay.

“We kinda suck at this, don’t we?” Gwen spoke so softly she almost didn’t hear herself.

“Yes. I think so.”

She sighed and leaned against his shoulder, joining him in gazing at the picture of her own doppelganger.

Gwen was used to this; she’d grown up with feelings of self-loathing and failure. They’d been her constant companions, especially during high school and college.

Somehow it had never occurred to her that other people around her might be plagued by the same feelings. Especially David…he was the _last_ person in the world who should have known what that was like.

If anyone were to ask before tonight, Gwen would have said that she and David were nothing alike.

And yet, here they were. A pair of mid-twenty-somethings, surrounded by children with problems of their own in the middle of nowhere, just now realizing how in over their heads they were.

“At least we suck together?” she tried. It was an incredibly shitty attempt to lighten the mood and she knew it.

Gwen stifled a gasp as David’s arm wrapped around her. It had always shocked her, just how strong he was, despite how stringy his limbs were. She felt that strength now, as his large, warm hand rubbed her shoulder.

“That’s true.” David sounded a little happier now; a little more like himself, thankfully. “If it were just me here, I know things would be much worse. I know this isn’t what you had in mind for your career, Gwen, but for what it’s worth, I _am_ glad you’re here.” With that, he gave her a squeeze before getting up. “Welp, I’m done feeling sorry for myself! I think it’s time to put the kids to bed.”

Gwen blinked, still feeling warmth around her shoulders. She always forgot how fast David tended to bounce back from negativity. Sometimes she wondered if it was fully healthy, but other times—like now—she wished she could do that with the same ease. “Uh…right,” she said. “Better make sure none of them killed each other.” It had only been a few minutes since Gwen had joined David in the counselors’ cabin, but complete chaos had broken out when they’d left them unsupervised for shorter periods of time.

“Oh, don’t be silly! That won’t happen!” he exclaimed with a grin. There was the David Gwen knew; unfalteringly confident, optimistic, and confident in optimism.

Gwen managed a smile of her own. “We’ll see,” she said as she followed him out the door.

This whole thing was a shitshow. She’d known that ever since she started working here. But it was _their_ shitshow, and as long as she was here, she’d do what she could to manage it.

After all, what were CBFLs for?

**Author's Note:**

> Also: I stole a certain quote from a certain game and put it somewhere in here. Guess what it is, and I"ll...I'll...uh...I dunno. Give you a virtual hug?


End file.
